Huon and Colleen Smith and their Boonara Stud are instantly recognisable as quality.
Their great care and dedication shows in every aspect of their business and their horses. Their resident stallion, Boonara Mentor is no different. He oozes class, he goes about his schedule with a minimum of fuss and his results speak for themselves.
His story relates totally to Huon’s desire to upgrade his band of approximately ten brood mares and to breed better horses to meet both the competition arena and the sales rings. One of his first steps to achieve this goal was to purchase Warrenbri Eve from Lindsay and Jan Knight. Eve was a full sister to Warrenbri Omega, who was one of the premier Stock Horse stallions at the time and remains one of the all-time greats to this day.
Cattle Baron was the resident sire at Boonara at this time and was being extensively used with Huon’s mares, including Eve. However fate took over when Eve was to be joined. Cattle Baron had developed colic and was at the Oakey Vet Clinic being treated. Eve was also in Oakey but was unable to be joined due to the colic. Dogwood Comet was also in the vicinity at Toowoomba so Huon decided to join her to Comet as the timing was right.
Boonara Mentor was the resultant foal and although Huon wasn’t particularly trying to breed a colt he was immediately impressed with Eve’s new addition. He had a certain air of confidence from birth and he also had impressive movement. It was also at the time when Terry Hall was starting to campaign a new colt that had everyone talking called Hazelwood Conman. Boonara Mentor is a three quarter brother to Conman, being by Comet and from a Romeo mare, and with this attention Huon decided that he would definitely give him every opportunity to succeed as a sire.
Huon broke him in as a 2 yo and from the beginning he was very trainable with a great nature and was immediately on a different level to anything Huon had previously broken in. His education continued in this extremely positive pattern and he was ready to perform at the Stock Horse Nationals as a 3 yo where he won the Working section of the Futurity, the Station Horse Colt and placed in several other sections of the Futurity.
As a 4 yo he was challenged extensively winning the Monto Gold Buckle Open Challenge and was the Runner Up at Paradise. Soon after, he started drafting, winning a Maiden very early at Proston and quickly became the consistent Open performer that we recognise today.
He was first used as a sire as a 2 yo with his first foal being Colleen’s wonderful Open mare, Symphony. He has consistently bred solid books of mares and his progeny can be seen in a great variety of disciplines with challenging and campdrafting being the main. He has also seen his progeny sell for big numbers through the sales rings and happily these progeny have continued to perform for their new owners.